Message from OLA President Tom Black

Published April 1, 2014

On March 17, 2014, US Federal Court Judge Ronald Guzman sentenced T.V. infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau to 10 years in prison for fraud. Trudeau stood accused of running misleading infomercials in order to sell weight loss books. The judge pointed to Trudeau’s three decades of fraud perpetuated on society while using more than a dozen aliases. He was ordered to pay a $37.6 million fine by the Federal Trade Commission but failed to comply and was sent to jail. He could have been sentenced to up to 30 years. Frauding people of their money is serious business.

Now let’s take a look at what our government here in Ontario has done to us. For the purpose of this column, I will use the present Liberal government of Mr. McGuinty, now run by unelected Ms. Wynne but the message is for all politicians and bureaucrats of all stripes.

Mr. McGuinty started his premiership with a direct, often quoted promise not to raise taxes, and then applied a health tax as soon as he was elected. His government wasted money on the Ornge service according to the auditor’s report, now costing the taxpayer 150 Million dollars per year and transporting 6 percent less patients. The closing of gas plants to buy MPP seats with taxpayer’s dollars looks like fraud to me. Giving a million dollars to a fully insured cheese plant to buy votes? And then there is the drive clean program that is nothing but a tax on drivers done under the guise of environmental protection, since all new cars cannot be sold without meeting strict environmental criteria and exemptions from this tax apply depending on where you live. Move north of Renfrew and you won’t find this tax anywhere.

Now let’s talk about severances. If you ask for one, get ready to deal with a whole host of fraudsters. First, the municipality will take a strip off your property along the roadway to prevent further access, if you don’t agree to it, you don’t get a severance. Then, if you have any low land, the conservation will want you to give them a piece of it or they won’t give you a severance. Seems like fraud to me!

The smart meter was installed on private citizen’s electrical systems without their permission or their desire to have one. Hydro charged them a monthly fee for these meters, and promised the meters would help the owner lower their energy bill, by using the time-of-use feature. The problem is in many rural areas these meters don’t work. Sounds like fraud to me!

Mr. Trudeau got 10 years for a mere 37.6 million dollars, so when do we get justice here for the many billion dollars that has been extorted from Ontario citizens. Why shouldn’t government be held as equally responsible as private citizens?